A long diplomatic march recalled

The President of China, Hu Jintao, hit it off famously with Australian business leaders yesterday, expressing confidence that co-operation between the two nations would bring bright tomorrows.

Warwick Smith, national president of the Australia China Business Council, said after meeting Mr Hu: "We are very excited. It exceeded all our expectations."

People from both sides said the meeting had demonstrated how much co-operation and communication between the two countries had developed in the past 20 years. However, communication between friends can still break down.

Hosting lunch for the visitors, the Premier, Bob Carr, tried a light touch by recalling that Australians celebrated last year the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Mr Carr said: "At that time, Mr President, you held the post of secretary of No. 813 sub-branch, Fourth Engineering Bureau, Ministry of Water Conservancy - and deputy secretary of the General Party Committee of the sub-bureau's head office. You also had a reputation as a dancer. [The President used to dance solo at Communist Youth League parties.]

Veterans of the long diplomatic march recalled a visit by the then prime minister Malcolm Fraser to China, when the Chinese hosts followed a sumptuous banquet with traditional Chinese songs. Mr Fraser asked members of the Australian media to respond with Waltzing Matilda. They sang I Like Aeroplane Jelly, which displeased Mr Fraser and had the Australian ambassador, Stephen Fitzgerald, explaining it was a song about a famous Australian food.

While trade was based on mining, diversity is now the catchword. Chinese is the second most spoken language in Australia. There are 30,000 students here and foreign students last year earned Australia more than the wheat crop. Mr Hu made his commitment to education and science clear to the Australians.

Australian business people had eagerly sought places at the visitors' table. The business council was coy about the names because it did not want to offend those who missed out, but the former diplomat Richard Woolcott was there, with Charles Goode of Woodside and ANZ, Bob Mansfield of Telstra, Nick Curtis of Sino Gold, the former West Australian premier Richard Court, the miner Hugh Morgan and Jack O'Mahony, of the Cochlear implant company.

The NSW Governor, Marie Bashir, who formed her own bonds with the Chinese back in 1974 when it was most unfashionable to do so, attended the lunch. So, too, did the former prime minister Paul Keating, whom Mr Hu acknowledged as another who had forged links.

Mr Carr said that the launch last week of China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, was "a thrilling reminder of China's scientific progress and the skills of her people".

He said it was important for the whole world that China's economy flourish and that, "in a world beset by a multitude of perils - poverty, inequality, terrorism, environmental degradation - China fulfils its ancient destiny as a beacon of hope, wisdom and progress for the world".

Mr Hu visited Olympic Park, after which Mr Carr said he expected that the Chinese would use the Beijing Olympic Games to spread their civilisation to the world.

The Premier handed out his card, printed in Chinese, to Chinese journalists. The President surprised security men by stepping on a bus that took him to a vessel for an hour-long cruise down the Parramatta River and a little of Sydney Harbour, before he flew to Canberra.